This wide-ranging, multimedia introduction to the inner workings of rock and roll guides readers through all aspects of the music and its lyrics, from the time of its emergence in the mid-1950s through the classic rock of the 1960s. Walter Everett, a professor of music theory at the University of Michigan and the author of the two-volume The Beatles as Musicians, examines the music of Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, the Supremes and the Temptations, the Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin, the Beach Boys and Frank Zappa. The book is also indexed to a companion website, allowing readers to hear recordings of the music that Everett discusses.